The Round Lake Police Department would like
to inform our residents about a consumer scam that has been around for a long
time and is becoming even more common. When receiving odd telephone calls
, consumers should be ever vigilant and always question why. Businesses
and law enforcement agencies won’t mind and actually appreciate when consumer’s
question the legitimacy of correspondence or bills. So for your own
protection consumers should scrutinize anything that is asking for or offering
something.

Several complaints the police department has
received from residents were claiming that law enforcement personnel (calling
from familiar nearby area codes) have contacted them under the ruse of
collecting money for outstanding bills, tickets, IRS debts, bail bonds for
arrested loved ones or loans. In some instances, the suspect has even
represented themselves as a Police Department or as an IRS
Agent.

In these cases the scammer uses a law
enforcement angle to attempt to add legitimacy and urgency to the hoax by
threatening arrest or prosecution. These scams always ask for money to be
wired via Western Union, MoneyGram, or Greendot “MoneyPaks”, or that you
purcahe gifts cards at Walmart or Target and give them the gift card numbers in
order for one to avoid prosecution. Often times they use the actual names
of government or law enforcement personnel to enhance the credibility of the
scam.

Scammers are increasingly using “Magic Jack”
or VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Magic Jack and VOIP are simply
making phone calls thru a computer network. With this technology it is
easy to make phone calls or conduct scams that appear to be local but are
not. In these cases, the scammer can obtain a local area code (or any area
code) yet they are physically located overseas. Since the money is almost
always transferred overseas, law enforcement officials are unable to
investigate the crime and the wire service is unable to reimburse the funds.

Law enforcement agencies will not attempt to
collect fines or outstanding debt from citizens. Furthermore, the IRS does not
initiate contact with taxpayers via phone calls or email. Anytime that someone
you don’t personally know asks for any type of wire or money transfer, there is
a 99% chance IT IS A SCAM.

There are many scams ongoing today, whether
it is an IRS demand for money, a police department asking for bail money, or
someone claiming that you have won money but you need to send them money first
to get your riches, PLEASE BEWARE and CALL YOUR POLICE DEPARTMENT.

Citizens should also be reminded to never
give out their personal information in response to an unsolicited phone call or
email. For additional information, please visit:
https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-scams-consumer-alerts or https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/dont-be-fooled-phone-scams-continue-to-be-serious-threat-nationwide.June 7, 2017 - Round Lake Police Department Launches New Sex Offender Public Notification Website
Chief Michael Gillette and the Round Lake Police Department launched a new sex offender registration and public notification website called OffenderWatch®. Round Lake Police Department will now be part of a nationwide network of over 5,000 law enforcement agencies. The new service is a citizen-friendly, easy to use website that enables citizens to search for potentially dangerous sex offenders and predators, which may be in close proximity to their homes, places of work, schools, churches and day care centers. The information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is updated in real time by the Round Lake Police Department. As part of this new, innovative service, citizens may enter any address of interest to them, and see a map and listing of all offenders within a user defined radius of that address. Citizens can then register the address to be continuously monitored by the Round Lake Police Department, who will send to them an email alerting them if an offender or predator should register an address within their specified radius of their address. Citizens may confidentially register as many addresses as they like, at no cost to them. Round Lake Police Department and its implementation of OffenderWatch®will help make the village safer and provide the highest level of security to all Round Lake citizens.

March 2, 2017 - Round Lake Police Department to Participate In National 'Pink Patch Project
The Round Lake Police Department is proud to announce that they will be among the first law enforcement agencies in Illinois to join “The Pink Patch Project”, an innovative public awareness campaign designed to bring attention to the fight against breast cancer and to support breast cancer research organizations and care givers in combating the devastating disease.

The Pink Patch Project (PPP) is a collaborative effort between the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs’ Association and public safety agencies across the nation, including Carpentersville and Palos Park Police Departments in Illinois. The purposes of the initiative is to both raise awareness about breast cancer and the importance of early detection and treatment in addition to raising funds for cancer research, treatment, and education through the sale of commemorative pink patches.

There are nearly 100 agencies participating in the PPP. In 2016, participating Pink Patch agencies raised an estimated $320,000, all of which will be donated to various foundations that support breast cancer research, awareness, or support.

The Pink Patch Project centers on a vibrant pink version of our police uniform patch. All of our police officers may wear these pink patches on their regular police uniforms to stimulate conversation with the community and to encourage discussion with the public about the importance of early detection and treatment in the ongoing fight against the disease.

The Round Lake Police Department is in the process of partnering with a Lake County Breast Cancer Support Foundation in an effort to establish a partner in the Pink Patch Project by the end of March. In the meantime, the Round Lake Police Department will be selling the pink patches for $10/each and $1.00 shipping and handling if mailing is required.

Approximately 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in her lifetime.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 440 will die each year.·

Over 2.8 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today.